Elizabeth Poett wears many hats. She is a seventh-generation cattle rancher on Rancho San Julian near Lompoc, California, a home cook, an entrepreneur, a mother, a wife, a daughter, and the talent behind a new show called Ranch To Table on the Magnolia Network, which is owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines. Now in its first season, Ranch To Table features Elizabeth’s recipes in the kitchen of her family’s historic California ranch. We talked about having fun in the kitchen, mending fences to last, and being better busy. Rancho San Julian — The Ranch Table Ranch to Table on The Magnolia Network Instagram: @elizabethpoett

CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Elizabeth Poett, “Ranch to Table,” Lompoc, CA

For years, I’ve driven past the dive bar Whiskey & June in Atascadero and promised myself I’d visit someday. I hate to say it, but I’ve still never gone in, and after meeting its owner, Daniel Green, I want to visit more than ever. Daniel came highly recommended as a good podcast guest by Jenna Congdon, the sommelier I interviewed in Season 1. She told me he’d worked at New York’s famous Eleven Madison Park restaurant and then turned around and bought a whiskey bar in Atascadero. Turns out she was right: Daniel is an incredible interview. We talked about fine dining, early-morning drinkers, and the kind of excellent service that makes dreams come true. Instagram: #whiskeyandjune

Daniel Green, owner, Whiskey & June, Atascadero

Kari and Will Torres are partners in San Luis Obispo’s Farmhouse Corner Market, a restaurant and specialty grocery that has won the hearts of flavor-lovers across the area. The vibe at Farmhouse is very casual and cheery, but Will’s cuisine is anything but basic. Will and Kari talk about how they got here via a decade at JUSTIN Winery in Paso Robles, how they met at a power plant, and about their fantasies for the future of Farmhouse. Farmhouse Corner Market Instagram: @farmhousecm

Will + Kari Torres, chef/owners, Farmhouse Corner Market, San Luis Obispo

Beda Schmidthues owns and operates Beda’s Biergarten in San Luis Obispo with his wife Helga and their children. Beda and Helga are from Duisberg and Dusseldorf, respectively, but they’ve actually been living in the States longer than they ever lived in Germany. When they immigrated in the early 1980s, they never could have guessed at the success they’d have as a family-owned German restaurant in San Luis Obispo, California. Listen in as Beda and I talk about the effects of the COVID pandemic on the restaurant and his family, how Beda’s Biergarten rose from the ashes of the Great Recession, and about what make’s Beda’s French fries so utterly irresistible. Beda’s Biergarten Instagram: @bedas_biergarten

Beda Schmidthues, owner, Beda's Biergarten, San Luis Obispo

Despite never having done anything like it before, Christa Pfleeger and her husband Eric bought a homestead in Huasna, east of Arroyo Grande. She is an in-demand commercial photographer who travels the world multiple times a year for brands like Google and Roxy, and he is an artist. The two of them lived in New York and L.A. for many years before choosing to try the homesteading life, growing their own food, harvesting their own livestock, homeschooling their kids, and, lately, searching for water on their beautiful property they call the Lonely Palm Ranch. Lonely Palm Ranch Instagram: @lonelypalmranch

Christa Pfleeger, photographer + homesteader, Lonely Palm Ranch, Arroyo Grande, CA

By day, Carter Hiyama is a filmmaker and commercial photographer for his production company Datsu Films, and his wife Veronika Hiyama works in marketing for hospitality properties. But when COVID hit and lockdown kept them inside, this young Santa Barbara couple decided to start a creative nano-agency, just the two of them, called Sundae Cereal, which develops brands and assets for members of the food and wine industry. Some of the folks they’ve worked with include Omsom, Bettina Pizzeria, Municipal Winemakers, and Makesmith. Carter also made a widely loved film for Bell’s in Los Alamos, about a day in the life of restaurant owners Greg and Daisy Ryan (shown below). Together, Carter and Veronika run fairly epic photo shoots out of their kitchen and tiny office on nights and weekends. They clearly have something really special with Sundae Cereal, and I wanted to capture it in its infancy. Sundae Cereal Instagram: @sundaecereal Datsu Films Instagram: @datsufilms

Carter + Veronika Hiyama, Sundae Cereal + Datsu Films, Santa Barbara, CA

Angela-Sarah North and Sadie Rogers each had a love for wild things long before they met in San Luis Obispo. Their respect for the natural world brought them together into a mentorship relationship, with Angela teaching Sadie to become a certified herbalist. On the podcast, the two of them discuss the ancient medicine of ayurveda, how edible and medicinal plants grow right in our driveways, the significance of a near-fatal moment for Sadie in Big Sur, and the connectedness of it all. Angela-Sarah on Instagram: @wildfolkherbalist Sadie Rogers on Instagram: @saderade

Angela-Sarah North + Sadie Rogers, certified herbalists, San Luis Obispo, CA

Arcenio J. López is a Mixteco native from a village in Oaxaca, Mexico. When he arrived in Oxnard, California in 2003, Arcenio worked as a farmworker in the strawberry fields. Three years later, Arcenio was hired as a community organizer with the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project or MICOP, whose mission is to support, organize and empower the indigenous migrant communities in California’s Central Coast. I invited Arcenio on the podcast to talk about where most of the Central Coast’s indigenous migrants work: agriculture. We discussed the challenges Mixteco natives face while harvesting the food we eat, the ways MICOP is making a difference, and the ways that those of us who are consumers can help. Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project Instagram: @micop805

Arcenio Lopez, Executive Director, MICOP, Santa Maria + Oxnard, CA

Michael Palmer is the owner of McConnell’s Ice Cream in Santa Barbara, along with his wife, Chef Eva Ein. They’re not the original owners though: McConnell’s started in 1949 with Gordon and Ernesteen McConnell. The brand was beloved already, but when Michael and Eva took over, the vibe and the quality hit its stride. Today, people revere McConnell’s ice cream in its several scoop shops across southern California, and in fine grocers all over the country. We talked about his background in the wine industry, which he is still a part of, the industrial food complex, and how working with something as perishable as ice cream can keep him up at night. McConnell’s Ice Cream Instagram: @mcconnellsicecreams

Michael Palmer, owner, McConnell's Ice Creams, Santa Barbara, CA

Jack Dyer tells me about his roots in a a family of people with a heart for service, the moment he quit his day job to start a craft brewery, and how the company’s values play out in the call for environmental and social justice.

Jack Dyer, founder, Topa Topa Brewing Company, Ventura, CA

Brent Burchett and Kiah Twisselman_Burchett discuss their love for agriculture and humanity, their shared ability to hear where people are coming from, and their desire to effect change at a high level.

Brent Burchett + Kiah Twisselman Burchett, SLO County Farm Bureau + life coach, Carissa Plains, CA

Jeff, Lindsay and Jade Jackson talk about music, farm food, their love for old things and old ways, and leaving a legacy.

Jeff, Lindsay, + Jade Jackson, restaurateurs + singer-songwriter, The Range, Santa Margarita, CA

Beth Vukmanic sits down in the backyard to talk sustainable wine, playing the harp professionally, and batch cooking dinners to eat after a killer HIIT workout.

Beth Vukmanic, Program Director + fitness influencer, Vineyard Team/SIP Certified + Bethercize, San Luis Obispo, CA

Jill Hammond and Joey Baxter talk about strong emotions, our shared love for the produce section at California Fresh Market, and whether or not In-N-Out deserves all the hype.

Jill Hammond + Joey Baxter, owners, Farm & Harvest + The Howdy, Los Osos, CA

The Dressler sisters discuss hot-drop, hammer-forged knives, how they took up their father’s business after tragedy struck, and what it’s like to be a woman-owned company working in the knife industry.

Chelcea Dressler-Crowley + Kirsten Dressler-Wilson, vice presidents, Messermeister Premium Kitchen Knives, Ojai, CA

The CONSUMED podcast stokes candid conversations about life and flavor with the people who put food on our plate and drinks in our glass. Join writer Jaime Lewis in seeing life through the lens of how we nourish ourselves.